Advancing Discovery to Market Provides Funding to 18 Projects

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (May 21, 2026) – Texas A&M University awarded 18 research teams a total of $3.152 million through the 2026 Advancing Discovery to Market (ADM) grants, the Division of Research announced today.

Since its inception in 2023, ADM has invested $12.8 million in commercialization-focused funding to help Texas A&M researchers translate promising discoveries into real-world applications. The initiative provides researchers, faculty, staff and students with resources to evaluate the commercial viability of recent innovations and advance them toward market readiness.

The program is open to members of Texas A&M’s academic community, along with personnel from Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas Engineering Experiment Station and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Funding for the initiative is provided by Texas A&M’s Office of the President and The Texas A&M University System’s Office of the Chancellor.

“The ADM program is a critical bridge between breakthrough research and real-world impact,” said Dr. Angela K. Wilson, vice president for research at Texas A&M University, VPR University Chair and professor of chemistry at Texas A&M’s College of Arts and Sciences. “By providing the resources needed to reduce the risks associated with promising discoveries as well as to demonstrate their real-world potential, ADM empowers our research community to move innovations closer to market and deliver solutions that benefit society.”

The ADM program is led and administered by Dr. Henry Fadamiro, associate vice president for research, strategic initiatives. In addition to Fadamiro, the program’s management team includes Dr. Joe Elabd, vice chancellor for research; The Texas A&M University System; and Dr. Samuel Kim, interim chief innovation officer, Texas A&M Innovation.

ADM proposals undergo a three-stage selection process, with the final stage featuring pitch presentations to an external review panel of entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. The program offers two award levels based on a discovery’s maturity.

ADM Type 1 Awards

Type 1 awards support early-stage discoveries where an innovation has been identified, but potential real-world applications are still being explored. Recipients may receive up to $99,000. Seven Type 1 awards were granted to the following principal investigators:

• Dion Antao, Engineering, “Microplasma Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (MIBS) for Real Time In-Liquid Elemental Detection and Quantification,” with co-principal investigator David Staack, Engineering. 

• Muthukumar Bagavathiannan, Agriculture and Life Sciences, “An Advanced Robotic Microjet-Spray System for Site-Specific Weed Control,” with co-principal investigator Bholuram Gurjar, Agriculture and Life Sciences. 

• Ellen Melson, Agriculture and Life sciences, “Developing High Anthocyanin Nutritionally Dense Wheats for Specialty Markets,” with co-principal investigators Amir Ibrahim, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Russell Sutton, Agriculture and Life Sciences.

• Quentin Michaudel, Arts and Sciences, “Next-Generation Wound Dressings: Scalable and Main-Chain Cationic Polymers to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance.”  

• Paul Straight, Agriculture and Life Sciences, “A Platform for Effective Detection and Discovery of New Natural Product Antibiotics That Target Protein Synthesis.” 

• Yuming Lei, Education and Human Development, “Transforming Neurological Rehabilitation With Precision Spinal Cord Ultrasound,” with co-principal investigators Kenneth Hoyt, Engineering, and Thomas Ferris, Engineering.

• Ke Zhang, Medicine, “Development of a Single-Cell Microelectrode Array for Anti-Cancer Drug Cardiotoxicity Screening,” with co-principal investigator Paotai Lin, Engineering.

ADM Type 2 Awards

Type 2 awards support more advanced discoveries in which the core concept has been established, but additional refinement is needed to move toward commercialization or startup formation. These awards provide $100,000 to $300,000 to recipients. Eleven Type 2 awards were granted to the following principal investigators:

• Saurabh Biswas, Engineering, “PNEUMATOS: Personalized Airway Clearance Therapy,” with co-principal investigators John Criscione, Engineering, and Steve Riechman, Education and Human Development.  

• Shaodong Guo, Agriculture and Life Sciences, “Targeting Heme-Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) Inhibition for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and NASH,” with co-principal investigators Wenshe Liu, Arts and Sciences, and Shiqing Xu, Pharmacy.

• Thomas Kent, Institute for Biosciences and Technology, “Pleoderm: Novel Pleiotropic Nanozyme Therapy for Chronic Venous Stasis Dermatitis,” with co-principal investigators Saurabh Biswas, Engineering, Mansoor Khan, Pharmacy, and Robert Rose, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. 

• Fadi Khasawneh, Pharmacy, “A Novel Vaccination-Based Approach for Managing Occlusive Cardiovascular Disorders,” with co-principal investigators Fatima Alshbool, Pharmacy, and Ziyaur Rahman, Pharmacy. 

• Kranthi Mandadi, Agriculture and Life Sciences, “Advancing Novel Citrus Greening Disease Control Agents to Market,” with co-principal investigator Sonia Irigoyen, AgriLife Research. 

• Jayshree Mishra, Pharmacy, “Development of a First-In-Class Jak3-Targeted Therapy for Triple Negative Breast Cancer- Brain Metastases: Efficacy, Pharmacodynamics, and Translational Pharmacokinetics,” with co-principal investigator Narendra Kumar, Pharmacy. 

• Stephen Safe, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, “NR4A Inverse Agonists as Anticancer Therapeutics.” 

• Jianxun Song, Medicine, “FLASH-QC: A High-Purity Functional Treg Isolation Platform for Next-Generation Cell Therapies,” with co-principal investigator Arum Han, Engineering. 

• Amir Tofighi Zavareh, Engineering, “Continuous Oxygen-Guided Red-Light vs Microcurrent to Prevent Skin-Flap Necrosis: A Randomized Preclinical Study,” with co-principal investigators John Hanks, Engineering, and Jonathan Bova, Division of Research. 

• Jackie Rudd, Agriculture and Life Sciences, “Expanding the TAM 114 Legacy of Superior Milling and Baking Excellence,” with co-principal investigators Shuyu Liu, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Amir Ibrahim, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Junli Zhang, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Tadesse Teferra, Agriculture and Life sciences, Yahya Rauf, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Shannon Baker, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Lileen Coulloudon, Agriculture and Life Sciences.

• Limei Tian, Engineering, “Soft, Biocompatible Hydrogel-Based Nerve Cuffs for Next-Generation Peripheral Nerve Interfaces,” with co-principal investigator Michelle Hook, Medicine.

About Research at Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is one of the world’s leading research institutions, dedicated to advancing knowledge and serving the public good. As a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant university, Texas A&M conducts research that spans multiple disciplines and addresses global challenges. According to the National Science Foundation’s most recent Higher Education Research and Development Survey, Texas A&M ranks 13th nationally among public universities based on research expenditures of more than $1.39 billion in fiscal year 2024. Texas A&M was also the first research institution in Texas to surpass $1 billion in annual research expenditures, a milestone achieved in fiscal year 2021.